I have recently come back from a week on Lundy (Devon, U.K.). A consensus
may be emerging for a design using a Scandinavian cross in English colours,
probably with something in the canton. Apart from the design, a very
interesting comment was made that perhaps a swallow-tail might be more
resistant to the considerable wear and tear suffered by a flag left flying
24 hours a day in a windy place like Lundy.

It is certainly the case that the two flags which fly now on Lundy (both St
George's Crosses) need replacing several times a year, and spend a lot of
their time looking very silly with most of the fly missing (which is also a
good practical reason for a Scandinavian Cross, since it would take longer
for its proportions to be lost as the fly blows away).André Coutanche, 20 April 2006

In our experience whilst swallow-tailed flags sometimes appear to be more
durable initially, once they start to die they die very fast indeed -
perhaps because weather-damage is not spread evenly over the fly. Overall,
rectangular flags last much better with smaller flags always outlasting
larger ones (hence the practice - more common in Scandinavia than the UK -
of displaying smaller 'storm' flags during the inclement winter months).Charles Ashburner, 21 April 2006

Flags fray at the edges, and rectangles have shorter perimeters
than swallowtails. I suspect that theoretically a
flag with a curved fly would be better still.James Dignan, 21 April 2006

As a former signals officer I was much concerned with getting the maximum
life out of all my flags on charge in a very restricted budget environment,
while at the same time keeping the ship's reputation for neatness intact.
Flying frayed flags would soon elicited sarcastic signals from the senior
officer present and in turn require the signals officer to provide reasons
in writing to the captain. Very embarrassing and not career enhancing.
Frayed flags were therefore not allowed to be flown. Flags were regularly
inspected by the Yeoman of Signals. Fraying was not allowed to become
visible and all flags were regularly reseamed along the fly with double
stitching to make them last as long as possible. Further life extension care
required that the normal daily and Sunday ceremonial ensigns and jacks had
to be replaced with storm flags whenever the weather made this necessary.
This was a subjective condition depending on the judgment of the Officer of
the Day and frequently led to harsh words between the signals officer and
the Officers of the Day who had failed to replace the ensign and jack
alongside in what he considered to be a howling gale and they looked upon as
a mild breeze!

The experience gained from all this is that normal size daily ensigns and
jacks tended to last a fairly long time if cared for properly in this
manner. The one flag which had to be replaced quite regularly was the
commissioning pennant. Being long and narrow it suffered more from the
whip-lash effect at the tip of the fly (even though squared) in a strong
breeze and started fraying much more quickly than the squared flies of
ensigns and jacks with a strong seam along the fly would do. I imagine,
contrary to what Charles said, that for example a broad pennant, would be
subject to the same higher wear and tear at the points of the swallow-tail
due to the whip-lash effect than a squared fly would be, where this effect
is evenly spread over the whole length of the fly seam.

I agree with James that a rounded fly would probably be even more resistant
to fraying, but this is not a very common flag design these days. Descate might be
considered although there are still points which can be subject to fraying.

My recommendation to the Islanders of Lundy would be to select a normal
rectangular flag and care for it properly by reseaming the fly as soon as
the slightest sign of fraying becomes evident and to replace it with a storm
size double-ply flag with reinforced stiching, whenever the weather gets too
boisterous. They will be surprised how long such a flag can be made to last
without looking tatty and becoming too heavy a burden on the budget.Andries Burgers, 21 April 2006

Flags with a plain field (e.g. Japan) or horizontal
tricolors (Germany) tri-bands (Austria),
or multistripes (US) can be shortened several times
before they look "too short." Vertical tricolors can
be shortened some, but soon the last stripe will look
obviously shorter than the others. Perhaps worst would
be flags with diagonal elements, such as saltires or
the UK's UJ. Soon, the diagonals no longer reach to
the corners and instead end in the fly edge.

Perhaps one more design possibility would be a flag
with a narrow stripe down the fly edge. After being shortened a few times, the
entire stripe could be replaced.Terence Martin, 21 April 2006

That doesn't sound at all do-able. I'm thinking that they'd probably just
replace the whole flag altogether if that happens!

I've noticed a lot of times here that the fly bar of the national flag is
sometimes worn off. (I've seen it a few times on car flags, which I guess would
have more wear than the typical national flag, but others are on buildings and
other structures where it looks like it's hard to get to to replace the flag,
thereby increasing the chance of wear from extended use.)
David Kendall, 21 April 2006

Actually, I think that in the old days, with the common materials used
for flags in those times, this made a lot more sense than it does today.
From what I've seen, flags nowadays rip apart very randomly. I've seen
once a blue flag of beack quality (it was a blue flag, wasn't it,
António?) that had the blue field almost intact but the logo completely
torn apart. I've seen flags with little problems in the fly but with the
top completely ripped away. And I have this idea that many contemporary
materials are not that easy to properly sew at home.Jorge Candeias, 21 April 2006

I think the type of wind wave that flows through a fluttering flag
would be considered a transverse wave. The energy of any given wave
moving through a flag must have an exit point or exit points.

In the case of a rectangular flag on an upright vertical pole, the
point of exit is broad because the energy is running at a parallel
angle due to the fact that the top and bottom of a rectangular flag
are parallel to one another.

In the case of any kind of flag with a pointed end or ends of some
sort, the exiting energy is funneled into specific points at the
fly, meaning those specific points take all the "whoopin" as it
were. Thus they will fray more quickly.

Having said all of that, it is interesting that even on rectangular
flags, the first point that generally shows wear is the upper fly
corner. Our science dept. is going to write up an explanation
stating why there is an upward energy dispersal on rectangular
flags. When I have it in my hand, I will pass it along.

It could be a bit complex based on flag size, material, wind
velocity and a host of other factors.

Meanwhile, it would be interesting to fly a flag with a rounded edge
along with a rectangular flag in order to see which design would
last longer. My money would still be on the rectangle. I could be
wrong though.Clay Moss, 23 April 2006